Heat exchange tube protector



Fab. 1%, 1942. M, YOUNQ fi zmfiffi HEAT EXCHANGE TUBE PROTECTOR FiledNov. 4, 1949 wmw roe 5950 M )/0(//Y 6 ATTOBIYL'Y Patented Feb. 10, 1942UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE 1 '7 1.272.863"; Q y

I HEAT EXCHANGE r'unurnorac'ron j I Fred Young, Racine-Wis." IApplication November- 4 1e40, Serial No. 364,131

y I 5 Claims 2575-154 The present invention relates to steamradiatorshaying upper and lower headers-and a number of tubes forming operatingconnections therebetween and a multiplicity of closely spaced Fig 4 isasectional view of afurthermodificationr- .Fig. is a further modificationof the design shown in Figure '1.

old fashioned cast'radiator of the same heat l transfer capacitylargelybecause of the fact that a blast'of air-is forced'between the fins."

The heat transfer surface in radiators-of thenear certain tubeendsythese tubes are impinged violently by the steam and: they mayreceive a large percentage of the entering steamand thus be greatlyoverloadedand expanded difierently Furthermore, foreign from the othertubes.

I .nection IL. The tubeplate of the header is.

Fig. 6 is a view of the'ba file shown in Figure 5 but transverse to thisfigure.

Fig.;7 is amodification of thedesignshown in Figure :3 adapted for tubeswithout bushings. Fig. 8 illustrates-a further modificationr-l As thus'illustrated, in Figures*1.;and 2, the top surface of the header shownis designated byr'eferencecharacter l0 having an inlet condesignated byreference numeral l2 and the tubes by reference numeral I3. In headersof the, class,.the tube ends generally extend slightly ".through theirapertures 14, as illustrated.

matter in the steam will impinge the tube ends andthe inner surfaceofthetubesnear theends-H Thus, because of the steam velocity, foreignmatter and additional heat and" variations in" a about the same volumeof steam thus to equalize expansion and contraction and-heat transfer tothereby increase the capacity of the unit.

An object of the present invention is'toprevent the steam and foreignmatter from violently impinging any of the tube surfaces and to' evenlyidistribute the steam into the various tubes.

I accomplish the objects ta providing:

bailies over certain tube ends which will act to receive the impact of*theenteringsteam and foreign matter and to reduce the area of theapproach to the tubes so as to equalize the flow class, it is clearlydesirable of steam into the tubes whether they are near or a distancefrom the inlet.

To these and other usefulends, my invention consists of parts,combinations of parts, or their equivalents, and mode of operation, ashereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawingin which:

Fig. 1 is a fractional vertical section through a conventional radiatorinlet header.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device shown in Figure l with the top of theheader removed.

Fig. 3 is a modification of the design shown in Figure 1.

top of the header, as illustrated; Thus it will be --A numberbf bushingsl5 are'pressed into the tube ends and expanded in any convenient manner.Most headers hat e the inlets in the seen that certain tubes will bedirectly'under the inlet and that these tubes will therefore beviolently impinged by the entering steam and '25 electrolysis! orchemical also greatly'overloaded. I

I provide baflle plates which in their entireties are designated byreference character A. These baifles comprise preferably discs 20 whichare formed integrally with two or more downwardly projecting legs 2|.These legs may be of any desired length, their ends being adapted torest on tube plate I2 and thus act as spacers between the tubes andmembers'20. "The desireis to reduce this space, if necessary, forapurpose which will be apparent.

a connecting member 23, member 23 being-pref- -erably spot welded tomember 20, the arms being positionedsothey will be snugly'embraced bybushings IS, the lower ends being provided with-outwardlyextendingprojections 24 which are positioned so they pass under the inner end K01 the bushing to firmly hold the device into position.

As thus illustrated, it will be seen that member Amay be positioned asuitable distance from the ends of the tubes so as to reduce the area ofthe space, if necessary. The practice is to reduce the area of thisspace to less than the area of the tube, assuming that the pressure inthe header will be slightly greater near the inlet than at the far endsof the header. Thus member A not only prevents the entering steam fromimpinging the tubes, but also prevents overloading these tubes.

Under some circumstances, for best results, it may be necessary toposition several of the discs say A," from the ends of the tubes and thesurrounding discs ft," from the tube ends. In many installations havingsay 100 tubes, it may be necessary to supply bailies for six or eighttubes. In other installations, particularly if the inlet is near the endof the header of large radiators, more baffles may be needed.

In Figure 3, I illustrate a modification wherein a disc 25 is providedwith separate legs 26, their upper ends being bent outwardly at rightangles as at 21 and being spot welded to the disc. An offset as at 28 isprovided which rests on bushings l as a spacer for the discs. The lowerends of members 25 are offset outwardly as at, to prevent the disc frommoving out of the tube by accident.

In Figure 4, I illustrate a modification wherein a tube 30 is flanged asat 3|, this flange being secured to plate 25 by spot welding orotherwise. Member 30 is provided with a number of apertures 32 of asuitable size for reducing the area of the inlet to the tube. I providean ofiset in tube 30 as at 33 which is adapted to rest on bushing 15.Tube 30 at its lower end is adapted to be pressed into bushings 15 so itwill be firmly held into position. The lower end of the tube is flangedinwardly slightly as at 34, thus cooperating with openings 32 to reducethe opening into the tube.

In Figure 5, I illustrate a modification of the design shown in Figure 1wherein tubes l3 are not provided with bushings but are rolled intotheir openings boiler tube fashion so as to provide a pressure tightjoint. In this design, plate 25 is supported by a U-shaped member formedfrom a single strip of metal into arms 35-35 and a connecting member 36,the arms being ofiset inwardly as at 37-31 forming a positioning stop.The inner ends of arms 35 are curved inwardly as at 38 so as tofacilitate inserting the arms into the tube.

It will be understood that the arms illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 5are positioned a considerable distance farther apart at their free endsthan the other ends so these arms will be caused to tightly hug eitherthe sleeve or the tube when inserted.

In Figure 6, I illustrate the design shown in- Figure 5 but transverseto this figure.

In Figure 7, I illustrate a further modification somewhat similar tothat shown in Figure 3, except that the disc is similar to that shown inFigure 1, the arms 40 however being made in separate pieces, the upperends of the arms being bent at right angles as at 39 and spot welded orotherwise secured to member 20.

a In Figure 8, I illustrate a baflle plate 40 large enough to cover anumber of tubes or all of the tubes, as illustrated in Figure 2, andhaving holding means similar to that shown in Figure 5 but being spacedin pairs so the holding means will enter two of the outside oppositelypositioned tubes. Clearly in this design, three holding means may besupplied so as to fit into every other outside tube.

It will be seen that my baflle plate need not be limited to a singletube and that this plate may be formed as in Figures 1 or 7 havingholding means to correspond or it may be fitted with holding meanssimilar to that shown in Figures 3 and 4.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that many minor detail changes maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, as recited in the appended claims.

Having thus shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a radiator having upperand lower headers and a number of tubes forming operating connectionstherebetween, an inlet connection in said upper header, plates havingholding means positioned over certain tubes which are adjacent saidinlet, said holding means adapted to extend into the tubes, meansadaptedto determine the distance between said plates and the ends ofsaid tubes.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a radiator having upperand lower headers and a number of tubes forming operating connectionstherebetween, an inlet connection in said upper header, one or morediscs positioned over certain tube ends which are adjacent said inletand having holding means adapted to extend into their tubes, legsextending from the periphery of said plates adapted to rest on the tubeplate to thereby determine the distance between said disc and its tubeend. r

3. A device as recited in claim 2 includin said tubes having bushingstherein, said holding means having relatively. short projections adaptedto engage the inner ends of the bushings to thereby prevent said discsfrom moving out of position.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a radiator having upperand lower headers and a number of tubes forming operating connectionstherebetween, bushings in said tube ends, an inlet connection in saidupper header, one or more plates having holding means positioned oversaid tubes which are adjacent said inlet, said holding means adapted toextend into their tubes and be embraced by said bushings and havingmeans to determine the distance between said plate and the ends of saidtubes.

5. A device of the class described, comprising a radiator having upperand lower headers and a number of tubes forming operating connectionstherebetween, an inlet connection in said upper header, one or moreindividual plates positioned over certain tubes which are adjacent saidinlet and having holding means which extend into their tubes, said tubeshaving inner sleeves at their ends, said holding means comprising two ormore arms adapted to yieldingly engage said sleeves and having meansadapted to engage the inner and outer ends of said sleeves and hold theplate into position.

FRED M. YOUNG.

